Wisma Putra Was Against Yemen Intervention Deputy Minister Reveals

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PARLIAMENT | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had advised against Malaysia’s involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war in 2015, the Dewan Rakyat was told today
In addition, it had said at the time that there is no need to evacuate the 198 Malaysians still in Yemen then
This was revealed by Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong today when he read out in Parliament parts of two letters written by the Ministry of Defence’s Policy and Strategic Planning Division
The first letter - dated May 6, 2015 and addressed to the Malaysian Armed Forces Headquarters - outlined the procedural requirements for deploying troops to participate in the Saudi-led “Operation Renewal of Hope”, as well as Wisma Putra’s official views on the matter
“The following are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs views: firstly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is of the view that the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) should not participate in any military mission in the Middle East led by Saudi Arabia or any military or security mission related to the Yemen issue except under the UN or Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) banner
“Secondly, any humanitarian aid mission involving MAF troops in relation to the security crisis in Yemen should come only after a security resolution has been passed by the UN Security Council or the OIC, and not put under Saudi control
“Thirdly, at this time, there is no need for an evacuation for the 198 remaining Malaysian citizens in Yemen. Moreover, they have clearly stated that they don’t want to leave Yemen,” Liew said, reading from the letter
The letter goes on to quote Wisma Putra saying that if Malaysia were to join the Saudi-led intervention, it would relegate the then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Global Movement of Moderates to irrelevance
It said it is also appropriate for Malaysia to maintain a neutral stance towards the internal affairs of any country since Malaysia is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council
Apart from the outlining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ views, the division also said in the letter that the operation and its financial implications need to be debated in both houses of Parliament or at least in a cabinet meeting
In its second letter dated May 26, 2015, the division said the international media had reported on Malaysia’s military presence in Saudi Arabia and this was detrimental to Malaysia’s image in the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council
It also said that, at the time, no military assets had been used to evacuate Malaysians
“The division wishes to stress that the Committee for the Evacuation of Malaysians from Yemen that is chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and joined by various agencies such as the National Security Council and the Ministry of Defence has never made any request to deploy MAF personnel or assets to Saudi Arabia
“To date, the mission to evacuate Malaysians from Yemen had only used commercial assets managed by the Prime Minister’s Department’s research division,” Liew read from the letter
No approvalLiew said he is revealing parts of the letters to give an idea of what transpired when Malaysia sent troops to intervene in Yemen and expressed hope that the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Home Affairs would investigate the matter for wrongdoing and breaches in procedures
On Monday, Liew revealed that Malaysia had sent military personnel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 2015 to evacuate Malaysians from Yemen and this was known as “Ops Yaman 1”.By June 2015, however, he said the mission was changed to a logistical operation in support of Operation Renewal of Hope, known as “Ops Yaman 2”. This was allegedly done without cabinet approval and lasted until September this year at the cost of RM14 million
Former defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the mission was approved by the National Security Council but Liew said this is not the case. - Mkini

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